The enigmatic monolith Jinkiori, heritage culture Huachipaery (Yuri Leveratto)

November 29, 2009

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To know the prehistory of Amazonia, it is necessary to study from a point of view any archaeological remains or traces of ancient human artifacts in the immense area of the basin of the great river.

The petroglyphs and rock paintings are key to understanding the complex symbolism of cosmogony and the ritual of the people who lived in the area.
Sometimes, as in the case of petroglyphs Quiaca (department of Puno), are symbols used to mark the path, or route used to reach a place other than the forest. Other times, libraries are amazing rock, that indicate the spiritual conception, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic symbols, as in the case of glyphs Pusharo (dip.to Madre de Dios). In other cases we are faced with real totem pole, that's what zoomorphic Tambo (dip.to of Junin).
In the case of the monolith Jinkiori, located not far from the river Queros in the department of Cusco, Peru, the analysis of the petroglyphs, but also the utility of the entire ritual boulder is much more complex.
First the rock, huge, isolated, does not seem connected to any other, although about 200 meters away is a boulder similar, but smaller. From geological point of view seems to have a volcanic origin, but in the area there are active volcanoes and is also completely disconnected from every other stone of the same consistency, being surrounded by soft soils and flood.
Some researchers have suggested that a portion of a meteorite, but I do not seem possible, because the tremendous impact the Earth's atmosphere would have to disintegrate.
It 's likely that the stone has been revered by ancient peoples of the area, the ancestors of Huachipaery, Arakmbut native language, who live in the area since ancient times.
Their homeland is the Kosnipata Valley, which has its outlet at the confluence of the rivers Queros, Pilcopata and Tone, where now stands the town of Pilcopata. Since the time of the Incas then carried Huachipaery constant interchanges with the Andean peoples. The Incas themselves had established bases in the adjoining valleys, as Mameria (at the namesake creek, a tributary of Maestron), where some or Mitimaes Mitmagkuna (settlers Incas), were engaged in the production of coca.
In the twentieth century, the steady expansion of settlers from Peru, from Lima, Arequipa and Puno, has threatened the delicate balance of Huachipaery in their valley.
Nowadays Huachipaery are about 80 and living in the two communities and Queros Huacaria. The very existence of this ethnic group is in danger because of the increasingly frequent raids of businessmen in the area in search of new lands to be used for farming or mining profitable.
The petroglyphs that were carved directly on the monolith, bring signs of Amazonian cultures such as spirals, twisted chains, double triangles. There is also a strange figure called "the key". In my opinion these petroglyphs might be an abstract representation of mythologies or cosmologies, created by people who were under the influence of hallucinogenic plants such as ayahuasca (yaje).
One of the most interesting features of the monolith is a kind of basin, as seen in the photo N12.
It 's possible that this groove is totally natural, but after a more careful observation, one can conclude that also has a partial artificial origin. You notice it right on the edge of the smooth parts of the basin itself, as if they had been worked by man. Some archaeologists have suggested that the basin was used as a container in which to place the corn and turn it into chicha, a traditional drink of South America or masato, a brew made from cassava, a characteristic of the Amazon. There are other hypotheses: the basin may have been used to purify a teenager immersing it in its storm water or to baptize an infant and do so in entering the adult world.
During a recent trip to Cundinamarca (Colombia), the archeological site of Facatativà, I found, surprised, very similar to a rock monolith Jinkiori, showing the same groove in a part, a kind of "hollow ritual" (last two photos). Although the ethnicity of the Amazon valley Queros probably did not have anything in common with the Muisca who lived nell'altopiano of Cundinamarca, it is possible that the cult of monoliths considered important by local communities, was part of the Amazonian and Andean cultures, modeled in part that these boulders creating the "ceremonial bowls," which were used for purification rites.